Protesters throw red soup at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The footage shows two women crossing the security border to approach the painting, and each of them throws soup towards Leonardo da Vinci's artwork.
They both wear a T-shirt that says Riposte Alimentaire – which stands for Nutritional Response – in reference to the climate activist group.
The incident came French farmers were protesting For days against low wages and other problems.
“What is the most important thing?” The women screamed. “Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?”
They added: “Our agricultural system is sick, and our farmers are dying while working.”
Pic: CL Press
Museum staff then rushed to the black-screened painting in an attempt to block the public's view and asked visitors to vacate the room immediately.
There is a glass window protecting the Mona Lisa, which means the soup would not have covered the painting itself.
Riposte Alimentaire claims that two people – aged 24 and 63 – who participated in its “new campaign” were behind the incident “to demand the creation of a sustainable food social security.”
Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up blockades and slow traffic across the country in protest against higher wages for their produce.
Read more:
Protesting French farmers are determined to make their voices heard
Farmers, who are also seeking reduced red tape and protection from cheap imports, said the series of measures announced by the government on Friday do not fully meet their demands.
As a result, some farmers are threatening to gather in Paris, starting Monday, to block the main roads leading to the capital.
Farmers are on their way to a tractor blockade as part of the protests. Photo: AP
The world's most famous works of art have been targeted before.
In May 2022, The cake was smeared on the lidPassersby said that “a man dressed as an old lady” jumped out of a wheelchair before trying to smash the protective glass.
The gallery explained that the perpetrator was able to approach the painting through a “disability simulation,” allowing them to take advantage of a policy designed to help people with mobility issues clearly see key works in its collection.
A man was seen saying “think about the planet” after the incident.
Activists have targeted artwork elsewhere recently, including in other attempts Throwing soup on a sunflower painting by Vincent Van Gogh At the National Gallery in London in October 2022.
The following month, campaigners posted Goya's paintings in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
